Escaping the Horde
by whoa.chev
Summary: A normal day in school becomes a battle of life and death in a matter of hours when people begin eating each other. Kagome and a few others from her school join together to escape, only to learn the entire city is immersed in chaos. They travel to the countryside to hide until the heat cools, but unbeknownst to them, the true terror has only just begun. *some romance and adventure*
1. chapter 1

_**(Warning: this story contains graphic scenarios and harsh language in some instances. Read at your own risk.)**_

Chapter 1

 _Toyotsu General Hospital_

The hospital was bustling with activity and the nurses and doctors hurried back and forth to treat the mass rush of injured patients. There was no update on what had caused such a large crowd to rush into the ER, some bleeding profusely, some with broken bones, some with their flesh literally ripped open. One thing that was certain, however, was that nearly everyone had what looked to be teeth marks somewhere on their body.

Every nurse and doctor on staff had rushed to treat as many as possible but the number of patients greatly succeeded the workers, and was still growing.

In one of the operating rooms, a surgeon by the name of Kanna yanked off her gloves and face mask, angrily slamming her fist down on one of the tables holding the surgical equipment. "Dammit! This is the third patient that we lost in just a few hours. What the hell is going on?"

Her two assisting nurses shook their heads in confusion, both wearing their own looks of discouragement. The man they'd been working on lay completely still on the operating table with his upper chest cut open. There was a large chunk of flesh missing from the top part of his shoulder where something had bitten him. And it was a big ass bite.

Kanna didn't know what the hell was going on in the city, but this man was the third one she'd lost due to the same cause, and these three had come in long before the horde of people in the waiting area and all throughout the halls. They were delirious, and unable to form coherent words. Even their spouses and family members didn't know what had happened, which didn't help the staff at all.

Somewhere out there was some kind of animal with a perhaps severe case of rabies attacking people. Hell, with the large number of people needing treatment Kanna thought perhaps there was more than just one creature infecting people.

Each of the victims had the same symptoms: pupils so tiny they were near gone, foaming at the mouth, bleeding of the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, and uncontrollable muscle spasms that had been so severe that they had to strap each of them down even with the anesthesia running through them. And then finally, their heart stopped beating completely. The defibrillator and everything else proved useless. Once the patients were gone, that was it.

Kanna turned her back on the dead patient, placing her hands on her hips as she hung her head. "If this is the outcome of all those people out there waiting, then we are in way over our heads. This will be the worse tragedy this country has ever seen."

There was a loud, agonized scream followed by more cries of fear and pain. Kanna's head jerked up as she looked towards the door. "What the hell is going on out there?!"

One of the nurses ran towards the door and peaked her head out, only to scream out loud. Suddenly she was yanked out of the door.

"The fuck?" Kanna's heart began to race.

She heard a noise behind herself and her remaining nurse gasp loudly. She quickly turned around, stumbling backwards when she saw the dead patient sitting straight up. His pupils were completely gone and he stared straight ahead unseeing. His mouth was open, a mix of blood and saliva dripping out the corners. His breathing was raspy as he just sat there.

"S-S-Sir, are you alright- ahhhh!!" The nurse screamed in terror as the man lurched at her, his teeth sinking into her throat, tearing at the flesh.

Kanna slapped a hand over her mouth as she stared wide eyed in fear as the man began to rip skin from the nurse and shoving it in his mouth. Hot tears fell from her eyes and she leaned over and emptied the contents in her stomach.

The man, now soaked in blood, stopped and turned his head towards her and hissed, rising to his feet and moving towards her. Kanna scrambled to her feet darted towards the door. She threw it open and exited-

And ran smack dab into one of the doctors. He turned around, his own breathing raspy as he groaned. His eyes were missing his pupils as well. This time, Kanna wasn't able to escape. The doctor lunged at her, tackling her to the ground.

Kanna screamed in terror and used her fists and nails to fight him off, but it was as if he couldn't feel a thing. With an ear piercing screech he swiftly lowered his head towards her. Kanna felt his teeth tear into her neck. Breathing became impossible and she used her hands to cover the wound, knowing it was useless. Tears continued to flow from her eyes even as she choked on her own blood.

There were several more screeches sounding from down the hall. That was the last thing she heard before the world around her faced to nothingness.

 _Shikon Academy_

Sitting in the very back of the classroom of the prestigious high school she recently started attending, Kagome yawned widely. She stared out the window at the sky, wishing mightily she could be somewhere else. Anywhere else.

Though she'd only been here a month, she had no interest in such things as making friends or joining clubs or anything of the sort. After all, she was only a sophomore and this was the fifth high school she'd attended in two years. By the time she did make friends, there was always an incident occurring to make her have to leave again. Whether it was bullying or her father's job location, there was always something. There's even been times when she'd been used by others to gain her family's secrets.

So she just kept to herself. Homeschooling had been an option up until her father decided it was best for her to "be normal." Live a regular high school life.

She inwardly scoffed. ' _Yeah, as if that'll ever happen_.'

Kagome sighed deeply, letting her gaze wander. They ended landing on the front courtyard by the fence surrounding the school. The elaborate metal fence was about 10 ft high and only students, parents/guardians, and staff with special ID passes were allowed to enter. Osaka was a pretty big city and Shikon Academy was one of the more elite schools around. More than a few students belonged to esteemed families all throughout Japan.

Snobby bunch that they were. Kagome hated private schools even more than public ones.

Something caught her attention and she focused on the orange clad figure approaching the gates with a limp. The more she watched the man, the more she tried to tell herself it was unimportant. But even still...

Even from the distance there was something...off. He dragged his left leg as he walked slowly towards the gate. And though she couldn't see his face, his head was eerily tilted to the side.

Kagome narrowed her eyes. Behind him he was leaving a trail...blood? She leaned forward just a bit, trying to focus more. His arms were crossed in a disfigured kind of way. Wait a minute. He was holding something...

With a jerk, Kagome raised her hand high. "Teacher, may I be excused?" Before the teacher even responded she closed the book on her desk, grabbed her bag and hurriedly left the classroom, ignoring the hushed murmuring among her classmates. She didn't care what they thought of her. It was nothing new.

Kagome quickly walked through the halls. She was on the second of three floors. When she came across a large bay of windows overlooking the front yard out by the gate, she paused.

At this vantage she could see a bit closer. The man was definitely leaving a trail of blood. Kagome frowned. If he was injured, walking up a mile long hill to get to their school wasn't the smartest of ideas.

Kagome was so immersed in trying to watch the man that she didn't even notice someone had come to stand behind her.

"See something interesting?" A deep voice called out.

Kagome damn near jumped out of her skin. She spun around, preparing to snap at whoever just scared the shut of of her, but she paused.

Holy...hell.

The guy was tall with long hair in a braid that fell way past his waist. He had a serious looking face with the brightest colored eyes. It almost reminded her of the color of whiskey. He was dressed in the same uniform as the other boys in the school, but somehow...he made it look like designer clothes.

His expression was stern, his arms crossed over his chest. Kagome snapped her mouth shut and turned her back on him, trying to hide her flaming cheeks. ' _He's even more beautiful than all these girls here. How is that even possible_?!'

"Where is your hall pass?" He asked.

Kagome continued to ignore him, focusing on what was happening outside. Two of the administrators were heading towards the front gate. She couldn't hear what they were saying but she was pretty sure the male was pointing, telling the creepy injured guy to leave. The female administrator placed a hand on the man, and used her other hand to indicate the other guy. Presumably saying 'He's injured, we have to help.'

Kagome pointed a finger outside the window. "Do you see that man? Something strange is going on. He's bleeding pretty badly."

The handsome guy stopped his nagging and moved next to Kagome, peering out the window. They watched as the two administrators seemed to argue for a few moments before given in. The woman used her ID card to open the gate. It slid open and she held out an arm to beckon the injured man.

From then on Kagome witnessed true horror. The injured man lunged at the woman. They both fell to the ground. He was eating her. Eating her.

"Oh my God!"

"What the hell!" They yelled at the same time.

Kagome's hand came up to her mouth. She watched with wide eyes as the man in orange ripped the woman apart, shoving fist loads of her insides in his mouth. The male administrator then tackled the other man. They rolled around, blood and skin flying all around. The male administrator seemed to have the upper hand-

Suddenly the woman rose from the ground. She was covered in blood, her entire torso exposed, but she seemed unaffected. She twitched and slowly limped over to the male administrator. He looked up at her just in time to see her leap at him, sinking her teeth into his flesh.

"No way," Kagome whispered, stunned. She slowly looked over at the boy beside her. He had gone pale, his amber eyes filled with horror. He looked at her and they both just stared, unable to speak.

A bell sounded, signaling that lunch was about to begin. They looked back out the window to see all three of the adults perk their heads up. They jerkily stood up and began a creepy slow shuffle towards the school main doors.

"W-We have to warn everybody," the guy beside her said.

Kagome gave a stiff nod. Without looking at him, she took off running down the hall. "Hey wait!" He yelled after her.

But she was already too far gone.

Kagome didn't know what was going on or what she just saw, but if those three adults managed to get in the school and started attacking people, then hundreds of students were about to become some crazed cannibalistic monsters.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"What's going on, Sesshomaru?" a frightened female asked.

"I don't know."

"What are they?" This time, a male asked. "Why are they eating each other?"

"I don't know."

"How are they even-"

"Dammit, I don't know," Sesshomaru hissed, glaring at the two. They were both equally frightened, but hell, who wasn't at a time like this? "Look," he said, whispering loud enough for them to hear. "I don't know what's going on. All I saw was a man who attacked two administrators, and they…changed. I don't know if it's some kind of infection or what. All I know is that if they catch us, we're all dead. Or we turn into one of them. Now shut up so I can think."

Annoyed, he turned back towards the door of the janitor closet they hid in. The room wasn't very big, and it had a door on each side, both leading to different halls. It smelled strongly of cleaning supplies, making his head hurt even worse.

His childhood friend Kouga crouched next to him, peering out the small window of the door. "So what's the plan?" he whispered.

Sesshomaru shook his head. "Hell if I know." On the other side of the door they could hear hissing and raspy breathing as the dead students shuffled back and forth. "This is something out of a horror movie."

Kouga nodded. "I know. But we can't stay in here forever. If the man you saw came from the city, then that means there are others like them. You see how fast they took over the school? It's only been a few hours and damn near everyone is dead. Or undead. Or whatever it's called."

Sesshomaru knew his face held its perpetual frown. He was scared and frustrated himself. He tried once again to call his younger brother's cell phone, but the lines were disconnected. Not even emergency calls to the police could be made. "I need to find my brother to make sure he's okay." He looked over at Kouga. "I don't expect you to follow me. Get out of here and find shelter."

Kouga gave him a disbelieving look. "Are you kidding me? I'm not going anywhere without you. Inuyasha is just as much of a brother to me as you are."

Sesshomaru knew he'd say that. Kouga was as loyal as they come. They'd been the best of friends since they were in first grade. He peered back out the window. "There's only ten of them in the hall." He looked around the room and quietly moved to the wall holding a variety of different cleaning tools. He picked up a mop and twisting the head off, holding onto the thick wooden handle. He nodded to Kouga, then looked at the boy and girl cowering in the corner. "Listen, everyone out there is already dead. We are going to fight our way out with these. I have to find my brother. You two can either follow us or stay here or leave on your own. But you will not slow me down. Got it?"

The two hesitated before nodding. Everyone began to find their own makeshift weapons. Kouga don some thick gloves and wrapped trash bags around his arms and legs, securing them with a thick layer of duct tape.

"What are you doing?" Sesshomaru asked quietly.

Kouga lifted a brow. "You said they were biting people, right? Well if that is how the disease is spread then I'm not letting one of those things bite me."

Sesshomaru's eyes widened a fraction. He then began to do the same. It wasn't full proof, but it'll do. Once everyone was wrapped up and armed, they stood by the door. "On the count of three, I'm going to open the door, and we will attack them. Stay close and watch your back."

Everyone nodded. Though the boy and girl still looked afraid, they wore equal looks of determination.

"One…Two…Three!"

…

With a grunt, Kagome slammed the baseball bat into another one of the student's head. She cringed at the sound of bone cracking, but she kept telling herself over and over that they were dead.

The first one she'd come across had been all alone. She'd tried talking to the guy to get him to snap out of it, but her words only made him move faster. She'd hit him in the ribs with just enough force to give warning. But it didn't affect him. He'd had blood running from his eyes, nose, and mouth, but he still shuffled towards her. Then she'd used her bat to hit him in the knee, this time hard enough to dislocate the bone. He'd faltered and went down, but he rose right back to his feet, coming at her. He'd swiped at her. She'd dodged and brought her bat down on his head with a crunch. Only then did he fall.

She'd felt terrible and sickened, but then another one had come along. It was another boy. However, his throat was completely torn open and through his ripped clothes his insides were hanging out.

Kagome had thrown up every bit of food in her stomach right then and there. There was no way in hell that dude should have been alive. And yet he'd continued on completely unaffected. Kagome had seen the way the two administrators had changed after being attacked, but she'd thought it was some kind of rabies-like effect. But now she knew it was far worse than that. People were actually dying and coming back to life as some kind of flesh-crazed demons. It was as if they weren't even human.

Kagome had discovered that body harm didn't disturb them at all. The only way to make them go down and stay down was a strong blow to the head.

She exhaled deeply. Somewhere along the way she'd lost one of her shoes. Her uniform was ruined and bloody, but that was the least of her worries. She had to find a way out of here. She briefly wondered if the remaining city knew what was going on in the school. Then again, no doubt there were several other areas in Osaka with these outbreaks. Which was definitely not a good sign.

She instantly became alert when she heard more shuffled and ragged groans. Two more of the flesh-eaters rounded a corner, stumbling along at a slow pace. She was thankful for her athletic skills or else she would have been out of breath and exhausted hours ago. She raised her bat in preparation to fight them off. Luckily, they were slow. None of the creature had been remotely fast, but they were certainly strong.

As they neared, Kagome quietly stepped to the side. She could easily dodge them and hit them in the head in a swift movement. She held her breath and raised her bat.

But then she paused. She stepped to the side, but the flesh-eaters continued past her, as if unaware of her presence. She watched as the slowly continued down the hall. Kagome tilted her head in confusion. How could they have missed her standing there?

She remembered their eyes being void of pupils and a sudden thought occurred to her. She silently slid her other shoe off. Once the two were further down the hall, she tossed her shoe, making it land just behind them with a soft _thump_. They both turned around and dropped to the ground, clawing at her shoe.

' _Huh_ ,' she thought. ' _They're blind, but they can hear just fine. They are attracted to sound_.' That made things somewhat simpler.

She tiptoed all the way back towards the opposite end of the hall. She peaked around the corner and froze at the sound of multiple footsteps thundering towards her. She pressed fully against the wall. The footsteps were moving rapidly, faster than any of the flesh-eaters moved. So they had to be alive.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, four students rounded the corner, pausing when they spotted her. Kagome eyed them warily. They looked…strange. They had their arms and legs wrapped in what looked like trash bags and duct tape. Like some kind of dumpster warriors. Her eyes met the leader of the group and both of them gasped.

"It's you!" he said. "Where-"

Kagome quickly slapped a hand over his mouth, looking over her shoulder at the two flesh-eaters who paused, their heads tilted back in confusion. Then, they stood up and continued walking away, in the opposite direction as them. As quietly as Kagome could utter, she whispered, "They're blind, but they can hear. Keep quiet."

With that, she took a step back with every intention of leaving. But then, a hand landed on her arm. "Wait a minute," the white-haired guy from earlier hissed quietly.

Kagome turned on him with a glare. "Hey! Let me go!" she then slapped her own hand over her mouth. She hadn't meant to say that so loudly.

Suddenly, hissing from around the corner could be heard. As one, they took off towards the other end of the hall, but then the previous two creatures came back around, hissing. "Quick, in here," the tan guy said, opening one of the nearest classroom doors. They quickly shuffled inside. He closed the door, and the other two guys placed desks in front of the door, sealing them inside.

"See there, _baka_ , I told you we should've locked the door!" someone hissed from across the room. Kagome and the others turned around to see two girls and one boy emerge from hiding behind a desk.

"Shaddup, would ya?" the guy responded. He looked up at them, his eyes widening in relief. "Sesshomaru, thank God you're okay." He rushed over to the tall guy and tan guy, fist bumping both of them. As Kagome watched the interaction, she noticed two of them looked eerily similar. The one that had been hiding was shorter and looked a bit immature, but they both had the same long white hair and golden eyes. They had to be kin.

The one he called Sesshomaru smiled softly. "I was looking all over for you. Glad to see you're okay. Now we can leave this hellhole."

"Hey, genius," a smug voice called out, "In case you haven't noticed we are kind of trapped in here. So unless you have some kind of magical wings to sprout out and fly us off into the sunset, then how the hell do we escape?"

The girl who spoke had black hair pulled into a bun with a feather decoration. Her eyes were red, her expression one full of conceit and annoyance. Kagome immediately got bad vibes from her.

Sesshomaru glared at the girl. "I am here for my _brother._ As far as I'm concerned, Kagura, you are not my problem."

She snapped her mouth shut and crossed her arms much like a pouting child. Her narrowed eyes met Kagome's. "Ew," she said, her lip curling in disgust.

Kagome snorted and made her way over to the far side of the room, peering out the windows. Everyone else in the room began talking and arguing, no one really listening to each other. They fussed over how the phones weren't working, how they were going to get out, how they should stay in the room and wait for rescue, etc. Kagome just tuned them out.

With all this noise it was only a matter of time before the flesh-eaters tried entering the room. Kagome didn't want to be a part of it. She worked better alone in everything she did. She would go her own way and let them deal with everything else on their own. She just needed to get home somehow.

This school, and perhaps even the entire city, wasn't safe.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

As the minutes ticked by, Sesshomaru felt his headache worsening. He was so annoyed at the constant bickering.

"Everybody shut the hell up!" he barked. He scrubbed a hand over his face. Everyone stopped talking and watched him. "Listen, if we're going to make it out of here alive, we need to work together. If you want to do things on your own, then be my guest. However," he pointed at the door, "those things out there are attracted to sound. The louder you all talk, the more of them that will come. And even if the doors hold, we will still be trapped in here."

Everyone looked around and went back to talking and bickering, though at a much quieter volume. Kouga approached him, his own expression filled with annoyance. "We'll never make it out of here with these loud ass people. Hell, even if we do, where are we going to go? Everyone lives in the city and if there are more of those things out there, it's definitely not safe."

Sesshomaru pinched the bridge of his nose. Kouga voiced all of Sesshomaru's deepest concerns. "You're right," he responded back. "Even if the city isn't overrun there's the possibility that it could still happen." He peered at the group still arguing over what to do. He knew they were terrified, but still. Quarreling wasn't going to help their situation. His gaze wandered over to the girl he'd met in the halls earlier. She had distanced herself from everyone and was peering outside the blinds of the window.

He found himself walking over towards her, with Kouga behind him. "Hey," he said to her. She looked at him out the corner of her eyes before continuing to stare out the window. When he'd first seen her wandering the halls before the attacks started, he'd somehow found himself drawn to her. He hadn't seen her around before. He definitely would've remembered ever seeing someone as pretty as her.

But then after watching the two administrators being attacked, she'd taken off so suddenly. He'd tried to chase after her but by the time he rounded the corner she was long gone and out of sight. He had hoped she'd went to warn others as he had but he didn't see her again until a few minutes ago. And, if he was completely honest with himself, he'd felt relieved that she was alive.

"I don't suppose you have a plan?" he asked her.

She didn't say anything or even move a muscle, making him frown. She was cute, but he got the feeling that she didn't like people very much. Kouga leaned against the window on the other side of her. "Like Sesshomaru said, we need to work together if we're going to survive. You don't have to be so-"

She turned on Kouga so suddenly, Sesshomaru could tell she was glaring at him. "There is no _we,_ " she said. Her tone was neutral but there was a slight edge to it. "There is you all and me. I can worry about myself." She turned back towards the window. "I'm better off that way."

Kouga's bright blue eyes met Sesshomaru's in confusion. Sesshomaru just shrugged. To him, that last part almost sounded…sad.

"Look," Sesshomaru said softly. "Honestly, Kouga and my brother are the only ones I care to see make it out of here alive. They're the only family I have. I will lay my life on the line to protect them. But these other people, believe it or not, they need someone to look up to. We're all afraid, but the fact that we're all here in this room together _alive_ has to count for something. Together we can escape this school and then afterwards…" he shrugged. "We can go our separate ways. All I'm asking is that you help us form a plan so _all of us_ can have a chance outside these walls."

The girl seemed to think it over for several moments. Finally, she slowly turned her head upwards to meet Sesshomaru's gaze. Despite the chaos going on everywhere else, he felt drawn to those deep blue eyes. They were like blue sapphires beaming up at him. She nodded her head just once. "Okay."

Sesshomaru blinked in surprise but then gave a small smile. "Great. Do you have any ideas? Because I'm at a blank right now."

She snorted, then pointed out the window. He followed her gaze to the large white van parked out in the courtyard, it's back doors wide open. Just a few yards away was an open gate leading downhill towards the outside of the school grounds. The van belonged to some electrical company that had been working on the school. Among the dozens of flesh-eaters wandering around the van, there was a man dressed in a navy-blue electrician uniform, blood soaking his frontside.

"If we can get to that van, all of us should be able to fit inside," she said quietly. "I'm still not fully acquainted with this school, but if I'm not mistaken, that area is just outside the cafeteria, right?"

Sesshomaru leaned forward even more. "Yes. It's only accessible through the cafeteria, to be exact. There's just one problem."

She lifted a brow.

"The attack started during lunchtime. No doubt half the student body is down in the cafeteria infected and just waiting for a free meal," Kouga stated.

They both looked at him dryly. "Really, Kouga?" Sesshomaru said. "At a time like this that joke is in poor taste."

The girl and Kouga then gave him a bland look. Belatedly Sesshomaru realized his own words came out as a bad pun. He shook his head in remorse. "That was a complete accident."

The girl shook her head, her lips twitching in suppressed amusement. "We can sneak through the cafeteria without being seen. As long as we are silent we're practically invisible. However, once we get outside, we'll need to create a distraction to lure all of the flesh-eaters away from the van. Because once it is cranked up, no doubt everyone of them in the school will be after the noise."

Sesshomaru and Kouga looked at each other, silently debating which one of them would create the diversion. And of course when it came to making decisions like these, there was only one way to fairly decide. Simultaneously they faced each other, bringing their fists up in front of them.

"Are you ready?" Kouga asked.

Sesshomaru gave a solemn nod.

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"

Sesshomaru had rock while Kouga shot scissors. He hung his head in defeat, grumbling to himself. "This blows."

The girl rolled her eyes, then faced the rest of the classroom. The others were still bickering.

"What's your name, by the way?" Kouga asked the girl.

She was quiet for a few beats. Then, very simply, she said, "Kagome."

"Alright, listen up!" Kouga said to them. His voice was loud enough to be heard, yet quiet enough to not draw the attention of the flesh-eaters. "We have a plan to get out of here, but you're all going to have to listen up and do as we say."

Sesshomaru cleared his throat and all eyes turned to him. "There is a van outside that all of us will be able to squeeze into. However, we are going to come face-to-face with several of those…things. No doubt a lot of them will be people you all know. If you lose your focus or get distracted, then you will die. No one is going back for you. First, everyone needs to find their own weapon. I'm going to open that door," he pointed across the room, "and there may be some of them waiting. Just keep on moving."

Kagome then spoke up. "The key to getting out of here safely is to be as quiet as possible. These things can't see, but they can hear really well. Even just one slip and it's over with."

"Um, excuse me," Kagura cut in rudely. "Are you supposed to be some kind of expert on these things?"

Sesshomaru glared at her, but Kagome simply ignored her. "Everyone needs to take off their shoes, so your soles aren't echoing off the floor. Also-"

"Hold up," Kagura cut in, again. She stood to her feet, glaring. "I am _not_ taking my shoes off. These are designer socks, probably worth more than your entire existence, and I absolutely refuse to dirty them over some idiotic-"

"Well then stay here and die," Kagome snapped. "I could care less how much your damn socks are worth. Either you take your damned shoes off and follow us or stay here and wait for them to get covered in blood while those things tear you apart. Your choice, _baka_."

There was an awkward silence that fell over the room. Even Sesshomaru's eyes flew wide. Kagura's mouth dropped open. Though Shikon Academy was a prestigious school, Kagura was among the highest ranks. Half of the school's earnings came from generous donations from her father, thus making her essentially a princess here. She was treated like royalty everywhere she walked, and if anyone ever went against her, somehow or another they ended up mysteriously being expelled with a ruined permanent record.

And so to have someone actually talk to her in such a way…it was an understatement to say they were all shocked.

Kagura's rage was evident in her eyes. "Just who the hell do you think you're talking to? You may be the new girl, but understand I am not someone to take lightly. I will-"

"You'll what?" Kagome scoffed. "In case you haven't noticed, we are surrounded by infected people who are literally eating each other alive. At this point it doesn't matter who you are or how wealthy your family is. We are all in the same boat riding the same wave. So until everything blows over and gets back to normal, you're just going to have to suck it up, princess, and get over yourself."

There was an intense glaring contest as the two girls stared each other down. Kagura was blazing with fury while the Kagome's expression was more nonchalant, albeit a bit irritated. Everyone else began to take off their shoes. At last, Kagura conceded, following suit. Her face was twisted into disgust when she set her feet on the ground, all the while muttering "Ew" under her breath.

Kagome then nodded in approval. "As I was saying, they can hear really well, but they are blind. We will be essentially invisible to them as long as we don't make a noise. We'll make our way to the cafeteria and exit through the doors to the courtyard out there. From there, Kouga is going to make a loud distraction to lure the flesh-eaters away, and the rest of us will take off running towards the van. Everybody hops in, we crank up, and get the hell out of here." She then looked up at Sesshomaru. "If the keys aren't already in the ignition, then they have to be somewhere on the electrician. We will have to move fast for this to work."

"Alright, that's it then," Sesshomaru said, rolling his shoulders in anticipation. "Any questions?"

The girl that had been with Sesshomaru's group earlier raised her hand. "Yeah, nice plan and all, but what the hell do we do after that? Where do we go, how do we know if our families are okay-"

"We will have to worry about that later if we actually make it out of here. After that, we can pull over somewhere away from the main roads and work out a plan. Any other questions?"

The other girl that had been hiding with Inuyasha and Kagura shyly raised her hand. "Before we do anything, can we at least introduce ourselves? I don't know all of you and if we're going to survive together, the least we could do is learn each other's names… I'm Kikyo Miya, first year student."

Kagura murmured "how idiotic" under her breath. "I suppose next we can sit around holding hands and singing _Kumbaya_ and sharing our deepest secrets with each other."

Sesshomaru rolled his eyes and shook his head. God, she was so annoying.

He then shrugged to Kikyo. "I'm Sesshomaru Taisho, third year student."

"Kouga Akashi, third year student as well."

"Inuyasha Taisho, first year student."

"Sango Kirimura, second year student."

"Miroku Yoshii, second year student."

All eyes turned to Kagome, who turned her back on everyone, walking towards the door. "Kagome Higurashi…Second year student."

 _Higurashi_? Sesshomaru paused, briefly wondering why her name sounded so familiar. But then, he shrugged it off. It wasn't a rare name. Besides, there were more important things to focus on at the moment. "Okay everyone, find something to use as a defense. I know we're all scared, but if we want to survive, we have to be strong. Just remember that everyone out there is dead. If one attacks, strike them in the head and keep it moving."

Several heads nodded and began searching around the room for anything to use as a weapon. Once they were ready, someone murmured a quick prayer, and they all stood around the door. "Alright…Let's do this."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Kagome and everyone else followed Sesshomaru's lead as they raced quietly down the halls. Every time they came across flesh-eaters they'd try to slip past but there were a few times when they'd had to fight a few of them off. Everyone except the girl named Kagura, however. She brought up the rear, and even though she had a thick metal pipe as her defense, not once had she tried to use it. She'd just sit back and watch everyone else do the dirty work.

They made it down to the first floor and through the opening of the cafeteria doors. As expected it was nearly full of the flesh-eaters. Some were huddled together eating the remains of some poor soul, but the others just shuffled back and forth. If Kagome and the rest stayed close to the wall and moved fast they could make it out the door on the far side and make a swift exit.

Kagome's heart was pounding in her ears. The entire room smelled strongly like blood and death, a rotten combination that made her stomach churn. She swallowed thickly and focused on molding her body to the wall to avoid coming in contact with one of the creatures.

They were all just a quarter of the way from the door when someone gasped loudly, and the sound of metal dropping to the ground could be heard. Everyone froze for a terrifying moment, looking in horror at Kagura. All of the flesh-eaters paused and as one moved towards them.

"Go!" Sesshomaru shouted. They took off at a sprint towards the exit, just barely bursting through the doors in time.

However, there was a loud scream and Kagome saw Kagura standing frozen just on the other side of the door as the creatures closed in on her. "Come on!" Kagome yelled at her.

But it was too late. Kagome watched as dozens of the creatures surrounded her. Her cries of pain could be heard all the way until the thick doors slammed shut.

"Dammit," Kagome muttered in frustration. She didn't like the girl one bit, but she certainly hadn't wanted her to die. Despite what people thought she wasn't _that_ heartless. She shook her head sadly, her hands clenching at her side.

A hand was placed on her shoulder, and Kagome looked up to see the girl named Sango with an equal look of sadness. "It's okay."

Kagome didn't know what to say or how to respond to that. She just nodded at the other girl and looked around the courtyard. They all currently crouched behind a dumpster, watching as another dozen or so flesh-eaters lumbered around. The van was several yards away with the dead electrician and others guarding it. She looked at Kouga who's eyes were narrowed with determination. He nodded his head at her and silently darted over to the opposite side of the cafeteria building by the fence.

Kagome silently wished him luck as she waited for the signal.

…

 _Damn, damn, damn_.

Kouga clutched the metal broom stick in his hands, watching the group as they crouched beside a dumpster waiting on him. He shook his head as sweat beaded across his brow.

Even though he'd lost to rock, paper, scissors with Sesshomaru, he would have volunteered to create the diversion anyways. He and his best friend were both athletic, but everyone knew Kouga held the fastest track record in the whole school. And he had the trophies at home to prove it. His speed made him the best candidate to make a swift dash to the van once the others had it cranked up. And if for some reason he didn't make it…

He sighed. Well, hell. At least Sesshomaru and Inuyasha would survive. He owed them his life, after all. From across the way he saw the girl Kagome nod her head at him. He grit his teeth. It was now or never.

He gripped the metal stick in his hand tightly and used it to bang on the fence, causing it to rattle loudly. As expected, all the walkers in the courtyard started shuffling towards him. Once they were far enough away from the van, the others in the group took off running. He watched as Inuyasha took down the electrician and grabbed his keys of his belt, then tossed them at Sesshomaru.

' _Good_ ,' Kouga thought to himself. When the walkers got close enough to him, he darted around them and took off at a full sprint towards the van as it cranked up. The noise of the fence rattling along with the vehicle drew the attention of the walkers in the courtyard, as well as the ones in the cafeteria. The doors flew open and they all began to stagger outside heading towards the van.

Shit, shit, shit. Kouga pumped his fists and willed himself to run even faster as Sesshomaru pulled out and angled the van towards the gate opening for a swift exit. The back doors of the van flew open and Miroku and Inuyasha sat there with outstretched hands. "Move your ass, Kouga!" Inuyasha yelled.

With a grunt, Kouga jumped at the same time Sesshomaru peeled out of there. Inuyasha and Miroku gripped both of his arms, safely pulling him into the van just as one of the closer walkers would have grabbed at him.

Heart pumping madly, he laid on the floor of the van staring up at the ceiling as he heard the doors slam closed.

Holy…shit. That was a close one.

…

It took nearly twenty minutes for them to get to a rather secluded area. The sun was beginning to set, and Kagome feared roaming around in the dark would be more dangerous than the daytime. They parked on top of a hill overlooking the city, everyone's eyes wide with dismay. The city was in complete chaos. Smoke arose from several different areas, numerous screams could be heard in the distance, cars were crashing into each other…it was a real pandemonium out there. Even from this distance they could see the flesh-eaters attacking people.

"Bloody hell," Sesshomaru whispered beside her.

"This is…worse than what I imagined," Inuyasha murmured.

Kagome just nodded in agreement. No one's phones were working. The lines were just completely disconnected. No doubt they were all worried about their families.

"What's the plan now?" Kikyo asked softly.

Sesshomaru's braid had come loose and he ran his hands through the long strands, frustrated. "I…I don't know."

Kagome figured the public means of transportation were shut down. Even if there weren't, going into the city right now was dangerous. She had to find another vehicle and take the backroads to get home. She turned to the group and bowed at the waist. "Best of luck to all of you. I'll be leaving now."

"W-wait!" Sango called out. Kagome paused. "You're leaving just like that?"

Kagome frowned in confusion. "Yes. It was my understanding that once we left the school together we were all free to go our separate ways."

Sesshomaru stepped forward. "Well, yeah, but where-"

"I'm going home," Kagome said simply. "I'm sure at this point everyone wants to go to their own homes and find their own families, and I respect that, but" she pointed towards the city "-there's no way in hell I'm going through the city. We got lucky at school, but out here there's way more of them."

Everyone was quiet for a few minutes, looking around in apprehension. Miroku was the one to break the silence. "Eh…To be honest, though I am really worried about my family, I…I don't really want to go into the city either. Not right now, at least. It's not safe."

Inuyasha scratched the back of his head nervously. "Well, Sesshomaru and Kouga are here, and as he said before, they're my only family. So I'm good." At that Sesshomaru and Kouga nodded in agreement.

Sango shrugged shyly. "Coincidentally my little brother was sick and had to stay home from school today, and my parents had taken the day off to tend to him. Wherever they are, at least they're all together. I can only pray they're alive and hiding."

Kikyo blushed. "I…I also do not wish to enter the city. At least not until everything calms down."

Kagome's brows furrowed when six pairs of eyes turned to her curiously. She felt her cheeks heat. "I only have my father, but he's…overseas."

Sango looked around the group. "Does everyone here live in the city? If not, we can find somewhere on the outskirts of town and bunker down. Of course, that means we'd have to stop and pick up some food for a few days, and…"

"Yeah," Miroku drawled sarcastically, "Let's just find an empty market and stock up on food that the looters were polite enough to leave behind."

Sango glared daggers at him. " _Baka_ , I meant any kind of store. If we hide for a few days, we need food and water at the very least-"

"And then we still have to find an actual place to hide in, which may take until midnight," Inuyasha piped in. "And let's not forget the magical van that has gasoline that miraculously will never drain."

Sango threw her hands up in frustration. "Well I was just throwing out some ideas! No need to jump down my throat."

Like back in the classroom the three of them went back to bickering while Kikyo futilely tried to calm them down. Kagome just watched in mild annoyance along with Sesshomaru and Kouga. She then sighed deeply.

"I know I'm going to regret this," she murmured to herself. Then, loud enough for everyone to hear, she said. "Look." They stopped arguing and looked to her. "I…I have a house outside the city. It's far enough and secluded enough to keep up safe for a while. And there's plenty of food and water. Everyone can bathe, eat, and rest up, and we'll take turns keeping watch."

"Really?" they asked with hopeful eyes.

Kagome nodded, her eyes darting to the side. "However…it's…a little way away from here."

Sesshomaru frowned. "How far away is a little?"

Kagome shrugged, and quietly murmured, "Ina…gawa."

Kouga's bright blue eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "Inagawa?! You live in Inagawa?! That's over an hour away. Why the hell do you go to school here in Osaka?"

"It's a long story." Kagome felt heat rise to her cheeks. "Look, it doesn't matter. It's safe. If you're coming, we need to leave now while there's still daylight left. And we need to stay off of main roads and highways. They're probably blocked off, and the less populated the roads are, the better for us."

Everyone nodded. Kouga who still had his mouth dropped open just stared in shock. She just ignored him and hopped in the front seat next to Sesshomaru. From then, she guided him towards her home.


End file.
